16
Serves
Preparation time: 35 minutes
Cooking time: 0 minutes
Pesto and tomatoes are one of those time-honored combinations that taste better every time you try it. In this recipe, pesto is thickened with low-fat cream cheese to make a filling that bursts with the flavor of summer. Stuffed into cherry tomatoes, it makes an exceptionally attractive appetizer that is not at all hard to prepare. You can make the pesto cream cheese filling ahead of time (refrigerate it, covered, for up to 2 days), but wait until shortly before serving to stuff the tomatoes.
3 cups fresh basil leaves, washed and dried
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted (see Tip)
2 medium garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
Freshly ground pepper to taste
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 package (8 ounces/250 grams) reduced-fat cream cheese (Neufchâtel), cut into chunks
2 pints (4 cups) cherry tomatoes, washed and dried
1. Combine the basil, 1/3 cup pine nuts, garlic, salt, and pepper in a food processor. Process until pine nuts are ground. With motor running, drizzle in olive oil. Add cream cheese and pulse until smooth and creamy.
2. Shortly before serving, make an X on the rounded side (opposite stem) of each cherry tomato with a serrated or sharp paring knife. Scoop out the seeds with a grapefruit spoon or your fingertips, taking care to keep the tomatoes intact.
3. Scrape the cream cheese filling into a pastry bag fitted with a star tip or small plastic food bag with a 1/2-inch (1-centimeter) hole snipped in one corner. Pipe a rosette of filling into each cherry tomato cavity. Garnish the cherry tomatoes with the remaining pine nuts. One serving equals 3 filled cherry tomatoes.
Per serving: 70 calories, 2 g protein, 2 g carbohydrates, 0 g fiber, 6 g total fat, 2 g saturated fat, 116 mg sodium.
Tip: Toast pine nuts in a small dry skillet over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until light golden and fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl and let cool.
Substitute reduced-fat soft goat cheese for the cream cheese and walnuts for the pine nuts.